The Moon Upon Her Face
by LivingForWriting
Summary: The story of Remus and Tonks from the very beginning. Woven into all the books which are relevant and very very much in canon but with lots of suprises too. Alternating between Remus and Tonks POV but in third person, if that makes sense. please R&R :


'Sorry!'

'Don't worry, it's ... urgh-'

'I'm so sorry, really, I am. Gosh, I'm so clumsy! Sorry!'

'Honestly, it's fine,' Remus said to her, as he wiped his shoes with a handkerchief. 'They weren't exactly new.'

The witch did not look reassured. Her face was screwed up in anxiety and her eyes didn't leave his shoes until he spoke to her.

'So what _did_ you have in that jar?' Remus asked the pink-haired woman as she fumbled on the floor for the pieces of glass. He bent down to help her, gathering shards into a cupped hand. Some wizards in front of them muttered irritably at her.

'I don't actually know,' she admitted with an embarrassed smile. 'Some one left it in the middle of Auror Headquarters and I was the muppet that got sent to reception to find out what it was.'

Remus looked around. The queue was very long and the witch at reception in bottle-green Ministry robes looked incredibly flustered.

'But you work here,' he said slowly, 'surely you could just go up and give it to someone at the desk. '

'Yeah, I suppose so. But to be honest I'm not too keen on going back to the office. It's getting a bit heated.'

'Heated?' Remus said, while carefully studying her face. She was dressed casually for work, not in Ministry robes, and she looked young but there was something about her which made him feel that she was more mature than she seemed.

'Yeah,' the witch didn't look him in the eye now. 'Well, I can't really talk about it but ... well ... let's just say that some people disagree on Fudge's take on the new _situation_ or lack of one. I don't know.' Remus raised his eyebrows. This was an interesting development but he didn't want to seem _too_ interested. She was giving away information here and he didn't want to seem like he was prying. He wondered why she was telling him this and then he thought that perhaps she trusted him instinctively. Sort of the way he trusted her, for no apparent reason.

'I know,' the woman said, misreading Remus' expression. 'It's kind of crazy but –'here she lowered her voice '- I've been wondering as much myself. I mean if Dumbledore ... oh, I don't know.'

'It's difficult to know what to think,' Remus said, in a non-committal voice. 'I'm Remus, by the way.' He offered the witch his hand. She dropped all the pieces of glass that were in hers in order to shake.

'Oh shit!' she said, as she wrung his hand vigorously. 'I'm Tonks.' Tonks. Why did that name sound familiar. Tonks ... Tonks. Ted Tonks. Of course, the Muggleborn who Andromeda married. Back when she was Andromeda Black. So, this was their daughter. He would have to tell Sirius that he had found his cousin. Though admittedly, he had many more important things to tell Sirius first. But that would mean that she had given him her last name. He had used his first. Now he looked like a fool. He'd been too familiar, after all he barely knew this woman.

Remus watched Tonks scrabbling around on the floor for the glass distantly before realising that he was being of no help.

'_Accio glass,_' he called and when every fragment of glass had whizzed into his palm, he swished his wand again in order to repair it. Tonks smiled gratefully and it was then that he noticed that the roots of her hair were a bright shade of blue. He couldn't help staring at her in the way that people do when they know that they should look away.

She raised a hand to her head and patted her short, spiky hair self-consciously. Without thinking, Remus reached out and grabbed her hand in apology.

'No don't worry,' he garbled, 'I was just gazing into the distance ...' But Tonks only laughed and he let go of her hand.

'I've left some blue, haven't I?' she giggled and Remus had no choice but to nod sheepishly. He wondered what spell she was using for her hair. Transfiguration was hard; he wasn't surprised that she hadn't quite managed it. But to his utter surprise, Tonks did not pull out her wand. Instead she screwed her face up, like she was concentrating hard. Remus couldn't help silently observing that she looked extremely endearing when she did this. When he looked back to Tonks' hair, he saw that the blue roots were gone. But he also noticed that her eyes which had previously been a non-descript hazel were now an astonishing shade of blue. Remus looked very confused for a few seconds before realisation dawned.

'You're a Metamorphmagus,' he said, and grinned widely. Her cheerfulness was infectious because when he had arrived at the Ministry twenty minutes ago, he had been in a much more solemn mood.

'Yeah, 'Tonks said, 'it comes in useful when you're an Auror.' Remus tilted his head slightly to her to show how impressed he was.

'I know of a couple of people who wouldn't mind being able to do what you do.' he said, thinking particularly of Sirius. And as an after-thought, Harry.

'Celebrities?' Tonks guessed shrewdly and then with a small laugh. 'Convicts?' Right again, Remus thought. She was much more intelligent than she deigned to give away.

'Hmm,' Remus said, watching her carefully. Smart, an Auror, adaptable (literally) and he thought she seemed trustworthy. He'd ask Mad-Eye about her. Maybe she knew Kingsley Shacklebolt. If so, maybe she would tell _him_ what she thought. Remus then realised that he had been staring at Tonks for quite a while now while she smiled into the distance. He coughed nervously and went to say something but she turned to him and cut across.

'So what are you doing here?' she said, but she said it like she was genuinely interested which was a novelty for Remus. He had certainly been getting tired of having small talk as his only human contact over the last year. Ah well, he thought, that would change.

'Dropping in some letters,' he answered and he waved the large brown envelope that had been tucked under his arm. 'And I've got to have a chat with a couple of people.'

'Am I being terribly nosy if I ask what the letters are about?' Tonks said with a mischievous smile. Remus' mouth was dry. Here came the difficult part and he wasn't completely sure that if he answered truthfully, she wouldn't make her excuses and move away.

'Well, they're letters of protest actually,' he said, a lot quieter than previously. Tonks raised her eyebrows, which Remus noted with a flicker of a grin, were also pink. He took a deep breath before continuing. 'About the Anti-Werewolf Legislation that Dolores Umbridge is bringing in. I didn't want to send it in by owl, they just get ignored.'

Tonks looked surprised but not shocked. Perhaps she agreed with him, Remus thought hopefully. 'Why are you so bothered?' she asked, eventually, with an unusual sombre expression on her face.

Remus was thrown by this question. When he first went to answer, he thought it a rather stupid question even insensitive. However when he considered it further, he found that it was rather difficult to answer. Did he tell her straight out what the real reason was? He had a million other lies stored in his head ready for anyone who asked an awkward question. He was just a concerned citizen. He had strong beliefs about that sort of thing. He employed a werewolf. Someone else wanted him to drop in the letters (he subconsciously decided on Dumbledore). He had a werewolf friend.

'I am one.'

'Really?'

Remus waited. It was coming now. She would smile, well grimace, especially while she shook his hand and then she would move away. But none of these things happened. Instead Tonks' face split into a huge childish grin and she seemed ... excited.

'Wow!' she breathed. 'I must say, you are my first werewolf and I am very glad you are because you are also one of the nicest people I've met.' Remus laughed as she shook his hand again.

'You're glad I'm a werewolf or that I'm the first one you've met?' he said, pretending to look highly confused.

'Oh no!' Tonks' exclaimed. 'I'm not glad you're ... that you have that problem -' Remus couldn't hold in his grin. That furry little problem, that's what James would say. –'no, no, it's just I think you're probably the nicest werewolf ever. Because from what I've heard ... well, some aren't very nice at all.'

'I won't disagree with you there,' Remus said, quite seriously. 'However, I believe that they are the minority. We are still human and I think to take away our jobs, our homes and our rights only serves to make us less human.'

'Yeah,' Tonks replied enthusiastically. 'Yeah, I think that too.' Remus smiled thankfully and Tonks bit her lip as she beamed back which made a glowing feeling spread through his chest. As they stood next to each other in silence after the slightly awkward moment had passed, Remus felt a hand on his shoulder.

Arthur Weasley stood behind him, looking as if he had been running. His glasses were askew and his cheeks were red. Remus dusted Floo Powder from Arthur's shoulder while he caught his breath.

'We need your help,' Arthur panted. Remus could sense Tonks listening beside him.

'What's happened?'

'Nothing urgent,' Arthur replied, running a hand over his balding head. 'We've found somewhere and Dumbledore wants to sort it right away. Only, Padfoot is being – difficult.'

'Why?' Remus asked, in a frustrated tone. It was immensely annoying attempting to talk in code. 'What's the problem?'

Arthur lowered his voice as the tall wizards in front of Tonks in the queue glanced around at them. 'It's hard to explain here. Will you come back to yours with me?'

Remus looked back at the queue, conflicted. His envelope was full of nearly twenty letters signed by famous and influential wizards like Dumbledore, Griselda Marchbanks, Amelia Bones, Dirk Cresswell and even Newt Scamander, an expert on magical creatures. He had wanted Amos Diggory's signature but thought it would be highly callous to bother him and his wife while they were still grieving for their boy. Remus' internal conflict over his dilemma was clearly visible on his face as Tonks began to edge the envelope out of his fingers.

'I'll give it in,' she said to him. 'You go with Weasley.' Arthur smiled at her gratefully before his face lit up. With a very odd grin on his face, he reached into his top pocket and pulled out a sealed envelope of his own.

'When you go back to your office, could you do me a favour?' he asked Tonks. Remus frowned at him, bewildered. 'Could you give this to Kingsley Shacklebolt? Make sure only he gets it, please.'

Tonks took the letter and put in the back pocket of her jeans without a word. Her dazzling azure eyes darted from both their faces before she nodded sagely.

'Thank you,' Remus smiled at her and she waved the big brown envelope in goodbye.

'So what is the problem?' Remus hissed to Arthur as they strode away.

'I really can't say here,' Arthur said apologetically. 'Hold on, I nearly forgot!' He spun suddenly on his heel and dashed off towards the lifts. Remus jogged after him. 'I've left Mundungus waiting for me in my office...' He jabbed the lift button furiously before crying 'All the stationary will be gone!'


End file.
